title: Effect of ambient extracellular glutamate on Drosophila glutamate receptor trafficking and function.
abstract: Measurements suggest that the hemolymph glutamate concentrations in Drosophila are relatively high. This raises the possibility that extracellular glutamate could be an important regulator of glutamatergic transmission in vivo. Using voltage clamp electrophysiology, we found that synaptic currents in D. melanogaster larval neuromuscular junctions are reduced by extracellular glutamate (EC50: approximately 0.4 mM), such that only 10-30% of receptors were functionally available in 1 mM extracellular glutamate. The kinetics of synaptic currents were also slowed in a dose-dependent fashion (EC50: approximately 1 mM), consistent with the idea that extracellular glutamate preferentially removes the fastest-desensitizing receptors from the functional pool. Prolonged exposure (several hours) to extracellular glutamate also triggers loss of glutamate receptor immunoreactivity from neuromuscular junctions. To determine whether this receptor loss requires that glutamate bind directly to the lost receptors, we examined glutamate-dependent loss of receptor immunoreactivity in larvae with glutamate receptor ligand binding mutations. Our results suggest that glutamate-dependent receptor loss requires binding of glutamate directly to the lost receptors. To determine whether lost receptor protein is degraded or merely redistributed, we used immunoblots. Results suggest that glutamate receptor protein is redistributed, but not degraded, after prolonged exposure to high extracellular glutamate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 W. Taylor Street (MC 067), Chicago, IL 60607, USA.
authors.forename: Kaiyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hrvoje
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Augustin
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Featherstone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001703:Biophysics; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004330:Drosophila / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D045604:Extracellular Fluid / Q000187:drug effects; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007814:Larva; D009154:Mutation / Q000502:physiology; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques / Q000379:methods; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D018698:Glutamic Acid